France will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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